NIT SEASON TIP-OFF

November 23, 2001

Jim Boeheim

Preston Shumpert

Deshaun Williams

COACH BOEHEIM: Want me to go first, Pete? This was a game where the other night we were getting to the loose balls and really active in our defense. Tonight, every time we got there, we almost got there. We didn't get it. We weren't active a lot. They're a smart team, a lot of veterans, lot of guys in the shot, attacked our zone perfectly. Offensively we weren't quite there. We didn't play well against our matchup and that got them the edge when it was 50-40. The only way we were going to get back in the game was to press. These guys did an unbelievable job, particularly DeShaun. Defensively, four or five turnovers with the press. Really wasn't something we thought we were going to be able to do against their seniors. We got it done. Once we got back in control of the game, we got back. The press got our zone going a little bit better. We didn't give them any good looks. We finally got a couple of steals in the zone like we did the other night against Michigan State. James got back in there. Sean got back in, got a couple of steals. We got a couple of layups. It was a great effort. Wake Forest is a very good basketball team with a lot of veteran guys. This was a good effort for your guys.

COACH BOEHEIM: We're not a get pressing team. We're going to use it in spots. It was really -- that was the only really answer we had left at that time. But, you know, right now at this stage of the deal we're playing a lot of guys more minutes than I'd like to. We -- I'd like to get some more minutes. I don't want to wear these guys out by pressing a whole lot. Tonight we worked it every day. They were exceptional in the press, exceptional.

COACH BOEHEIM: We got back in. We actually got the lead. That's when we came back and didn't press. Then we couldn't get in the press. Two or three times we were trying to, because we didn't score. But then when we finally got up five, we were going to press then. We were going to press on both free-throw situations, when we got the two tie and I think two, we missed three, we missed seven free throws. I said there's not many times you're going to win in a game situation, we miss seven, and front-end bonus. We got back and our defense held up real good. Wake Forest is a very smart team. They get it inside. They get it outside, penetrate the kick. They do all the things you've got to do against the zone. They've got shooting, inside guys. You know, it was a real tough, real tough team to play our zone against. The press was the difference. I was afraid to stay in it and just, you know, get worn down so we couldn't play the last four or five minutes.

COACH BOEHEIM: I didn't think we were fighting hard enough the first 25, 30 minutes. I thought we looked -- we had looks on our faces. We weren't -- they changed defenses. We got confused. We didn't penetrate. We over-penetrated a couple of times. You know, we didn't attack their matchup well, kind of a little confused. It wasn't a pretty look out there. When it came down to it, when they got behind, they got in trouble. They dug down and made some tremendous defensive plays. Wake Forest was attacking the press pretty good, get it up, make a play, usually that's it. And we still made a read and got another one. You know, it was a tremendous effort, tremendous.

COACH BOEHEIM: He used to be too tired to press in that part of the game. He's better this year. He's a good open-court player. He didn't shoot the ball well here. When he shoots it well, I thought if he shot it well the other night, we would have won by 25. If he shot it well in the three, we would have been in a better situation. We're not shooting as well as we can.

PRESTON SHUMPERT: We went to the press. We started getting after, that really gave us a little added momentum. I think it reassured us again we could win the game. We had to stick our nose in and fight for each position. I think we were going each time our coach was telling us, defensive is what's going to win it. In that press, like he said, stuck our nose in, went after, made some plays. We knew that was the only way to get back in the game.

COACH BOEHEIM: That will be a first.

DESHAUN WILLIAMS: I tried to be aggressive on defense, especially in the zone, be real active in the zone. Once we went to the press, that was our backbone of trying to get back into the game. We got some steals, got in the lanes and fell back in the zone late in the game.

DESHAUN WILLIAMS: I think me and James on top, we'd be real active, four on the wins pressing Shumpert, getting up in the lane so we can create steals up top. I think it's all around a team effort.

COACH BOEHEIM: He played great, made me change my plans. I gave him more minutes than I thought. He played great early. That was a great effort for him getting on the boards. Big step up for him. That was important, real important, and I think over the next few games guys like him and Josh are going to have to step up and practice. When Mark's been back, he's been playing well. Now that he's back healthy. So we've got to get those guys ready and play, get them in shape for later in the month.

COACH BOEHEIM: It's going to happen. Our zone stretches out. We're worried about the perimeter, we're trying to take that away, force them into shooting 20 some percent from the three. When you do that, you are going to give up some second chances. We've got to do a little better job than we did on the boards. That's always a concern. We're going small now. Hopefully over the next few games we'll get bigger guys, more experience, get them ready to play later. Here we went with the experienced guys and they stepped up big.

COACH BOEHEIM: Two real quick, aggressive guys and they played well off each other. James looks for DeShaun, finds him and looks for Preston. He's making good decisions. You know, he's -- he didn't have a great game tonight. He got a couple of steals and, you know, he got in a lane. He's been playing pretty good basketball for us.